A former top scorer for the Ranji Trophy, Milind Kumar will now represent the United States in the 2024 T20 World Cup
New Delhi: The United States of America (USA), co-hosts with the West Indies, announced their 15-person team on Friday for the T20 World Cup 2024, which is scheduled to begin on June 1. Corey Anderson, a former all-rounder for New Zealand, was included in the roster, but numerous Indians will also be competing in the major tournament donning the USA shirt. Monank Patel, Milind Kumar, and two U-19 World Cup heroes, Saurabh Netravalkar and Harmeet Singh, are among the Indians. Monank, who represented the Gujarat U-16 and U-19 teams, will captain the American team in the competition.
Harmeet, a former left-arm spinner from Mumbai, participated in the Indian team that won the 2012 U-19 World Cup. In addition, he played for the Tripura state cricket team and the Rajasthan Royals in 2013. Nethravalkar, another cricket player from Mumbai, participated in the 2010 U-19 World Cup, which produced talents like KL Rahul, Jaydev Unadkat, and Mayank Agarwal, who later represented the senior Indian squad. However, Unmukt Chand (skipper) and Smit Patel (wicketkeeper), two well-known Indians who were on the 2012 U-19 World Cup-winning side, were left off the roster.
Milind Kumar is who?
The 33-year-old right-hander Milind debuted for Delhi in 2011 in both the BCCI First-Class and List-A competitions. Before moving to the United States in quest of greater prospects, he played seven seasons of domestic cricket in India. Milind played for states like Sikkim and Tripura in addition to Delhi.
Before making his Minor Cricket League debut in the US in 2021 with the Philadelphians, Milind led Sikkim in runs scored during the 2018–19 Ranji Trophy season, finishing with 1331 runs. He played in the Indian Premier League for the Delhi Daredevils (now the Delhi Capitals) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru; however, he was never able to make his league debut.
Milind participated in 46 first-class (2988 runs), 65 List-A (2023 runs), and 61 T20 (1196 runs) matches in the BCCI domestic cricket league. In 2021, he joined Minor League Cricket in the USA, bidding adieu to Indian cricket.
In addition to playing for Delhi against England in a practice match in 2013, Milind also made an undefeated 78 off 85 balls while representing the Board President’s XI against New Zealand in 2017. Milind made his T20I debut for the USA against Canada, amassing 20 runs over three matches. In addition, he played for the Texas Super Kings, who are owned by the same individuals that control the Chennai Super Kings of the Indian Premier League, in the first Major Cricket League (MLC).
On the first day of the T20 World Cup 2024, the USA will play their first Group A match versus neighboring Canada. The remaining teams in the group are Ireland, Pakistan, and India. The USA is also participating in their first T20 World Cup, similar to Canada.
Monank Patel (c & wk), Aaron Jones (vc), Andries Gous, Corey Anderson, Ali Khan, Harmeet Singh, Jessy Singh, Milind Kumar, Nisarg Patel, Nitish Kumar, Noshtush Kenjige, Saurabh Netravalkar, Shadley Van Schalkwyk, Steven Taylor, and Shayan Jahangir are the members of the USA squad for the T20 World Cup 2024.
